2018年双语新闻 科学家发现人体最大的器官

Biggest organ discovered

科学家发现人体最大的器官

You might think that after centuries of research into the anatomy¹ there isn't much we don't know about the human body. But if the authors of a new paper published in Scientific Reports on March 27 are right, scientists have overlooked something big. In fact, they may have missed something really big: the largest organ in our body.

你也许会认为，在研究解剖学几个世纪后，我们对人体几乎已经无所不知了。然而，如果3月27日在《科学报告》杂志上发表新论文的作者所言正确的话，科学家们一直都忽略了一件大事。事实上，他们也许忽略了一件相当重要的事情--人体最大的器官。

Researchers from New York University's School of Medicine concluded that a "fluid-filled network of spaces" is spread throughout the human body. It's under the skin, between our organs, around blood vessels², and along the tissue between muscles, according to the researchers. They call this network an organ - the interstitium.

纽约大学医学院的研究人员们发现了一种遍布人体全身、充满液体的“网状组织”。研究者们表示，这种组织位于我们的皮肤表层之下、器官之间、围绕着血管并且沿着肌肉之间的组织分布。他们称这种器官为间质组织。

Scientists didn't find the organ for years due to the way they typically study human body tissue. They treat tissue samples with chemicals and look at the samples under a microscope. But during this process the fluid is lost, causing the interstitium to collapse³. The researchers discovered these fluid-filled spaces by using a new imaging technique, which allows them to examine living tissue on a microscopic⁴ level.

多年来，由于科学家们研究人体组织的常用方法存在问题，他们一直没有发现这一器官。他们先用化学物质处理组织样本，然后将其置于显微镜下观察。然而在这个过程中，组织中的液体流失，导致间质也随之分解。通过使用一种新的成像技术，研究者们发现了这些由液体组成的组织，这使得他们能够在显微镜下检验活体组织。

Our skin, until now considered to be the largest human organ, accounts for about 16 percent of our body mass. But Neil Theise, a pathologist at NYU Langone Health in New York and co-author of the study, told CNN that the interstitium is bigger by 4 percent, making up 20 percent of the body's volume. This "is equivalent to about 10 liters in a young adult," Theise said.

直到现在，占人体体重16%的皮肤仍被视为人体最大的器官。但是，纽约大学朗格尼医学中心的病理学家、该研究合著者之一的尼尔·泰泽在接受CNN采访时表示，间质占人体体重的20%，比皮肤还多4%。这"相当于一个年轻人体内含有10升这样的液体，"泰泽说道。

The study's authors say the interstitium's job is to protect the organs of the body, like a shock absorber. It also carries lymph, the fluid which contains infection-fighting white blood cells.

该研究的作者表示，间质的作用是保护人体器官，就像“减震器”一样。同时，间质运输淋巴液，后者含有抗感染的白细胞。

These findings, if they gain acceptance, promise a better understanding of questions such as why our skin wrinkles as we get older, why our limbs stiffen⁵, and how certain diseases spread in humans. The interstitium may also help to explain why cancers that start in one place can move to other parts of the body.

这些发现如果获得认可的话，人们有望对一些问题有更深入的认识，比如，为什么我们的皮肤随着年龄的增长而起皱纹，为什么我们会四肢僵硬，某些疾病如何在人体内扩散的。间质也许可以解释为什么癌细胞可以在人体内转移。

According to Business Insider, the new organ may also shine some light on the success of techniques like acupuncture⁶.

据商业内幕网报道，这种新器官或许也为针灸等技艺的成功带来一些启示。

The possibility that this network of spaces is a new organ reveals that in spite of how advanced modern medicine is, we still have a long way to go.

网状组织是种新器官的可能性表明，无论现代医疗多么先进，我们还有很长的一段路要走。

1 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

2 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

5 stiffen   

v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬

参考例句：

• The blood supply to the skin is reduced when muscles stiffen.当肌肉变得僵硬时，皮肤的供血量就减少了。
• I was breathing hard,and my legs were beginning to stiffen.这时我却气吁喘喘地开始感到脚有点僵硬。

6 acupuncture   

n.针灸，针刺法，针疗法

参考例句：

• Written records show that acupuncture dates back to the Song Dynasty.文字记载表明，宋朝就已经有了针灸。
• It's known that acupuncture originated in China.众所周知，针灸起源于中国。